The original image I took with my camera is 28.2M as shown on Photoshop Elements. Wish I could do all the printing myself but I don't have the equipment and I'm short of time to learn to photoedit properly (i.e. calibrate monitor, printer, ICC codes). I now use a local printer but it costs $50 min to get an image, then $50 min for prints. Is all that reasonable. Do you have any suggestions on how I can do better?

Now that all the preliminary preparations are complete, I’m ready to start painting the scene. Since the background will be watercolor, and I wanted the freedom to brush across the paper without having to worry about the birds or the nest getting in the way and having to work around them. So, I masked off all but the background with a combination of masking fluid, paper and tape. First, I cut pieces of paper out large enough to fit inside the objects to be masked so I wouldn’t have to paint masking fluid over the whole bird or nest. I then taped them down. I used masking fluid around all the outer edges of the birds and nest, making sure to paint up onto the tape to seal it. Finally, I can paint. After all the preliminary work, I’m anxious to get started. I mixed up a good amount of paynes grey to do the background. Next, I wet down the entire area to be painted with water, giving it two coats. Then, I painted wet in wet, building up a number of layers, adding more layers in some spots than others to suggest clouds here and there as I went. When I felt it was dark enough I stopped. I didn’t want to add any more detail to the clouds now. Once the birds and nest are in I can decide if more work is necessary on the background. Since it’s not a good idea to leave the masking fluid in place more than a day or so, I wanted to mask the paper, paint in the background and remove the masking all the same day. The photos show the progression from drawing to masking to painted background. Next, I’ll start with colored pencil on the bird in fight.

Work In Progress: Osprey: Lover’s Key, Florida Update 9 My apologies for not having posted this on schedule. My wife and I have just returned from a short vacation – visit in Virginia, and it lasted a bit longer than expected (it’s hard to turn back from the mountains). We spent some time visiting our son there and then visited a few historic homes of founders of this republic, as well as areas of natural beauty. It was a trip well spent.

I was even able to make some progress on the Osprey painting. With the background completed for now ( I may want to further strengthen it after completing the main features), I started on the Osprey in flight. I started on this side because I want to complete the painting from left to right to avoid having to cover parts already completed and possibly smudging them. The Osprey colors may, at first sight be relatively simple – black (and grey) and white – but closer observation reveals more subtleties. Shading isn’t just grey but has a bit of blue in it – a reflection of the bluish background. Blue shadows are more realistic and more interesting. The dark feathers aren’t just black but also have other subtle colors depending how the light hits them. So, the colors I am going to use on this bird are: Prismacolor Blue slate Cloud blue Light umber French grey 90% Warm grey 30% Faber-Castell Dark sepia Burnt umber Light ochre Warm grey I Warm grey II White Seems like a lot, but they are all necessary to attain the effect. The dark feathers were the result of using dark sepia, French grey 90% and burnt umber. Highlighted areas were accomplished with light umber and light ochre. All the whitish areas of the feathers were accomplished with combinations of the greys and white. Even some light umber was used in the lighter banding of the feathers. Of course, blue was added to the greys in the shadow areas to bring even the shadows to life. The light is coming from the right side, so areas such as the side of the bird’s head and body are in some shadow. The detail pictures show more of these shadows. The eye was completed with very sharp points to get as much clarity as possible. Yellow ochre surrounds the black pupil. And, I’ve left a small light highlight on the pupil where the light strikes it. He is looking intently down toward his charges in the nest.

I’m going to continue working on this bird and hopefully have much more completed by next week.

Work In Progress: Osprey: Lover’s Key, Florida Update 10 Last week I got a good start on the Osprey in flight. Much of the right wing and the head were completed (or nearly so, since I usually complete 90% of an area and then go on to another, so that I can determine later if more work is necessary, based on the completeness of surrounding areas). I then started work on the body. Since the light is coming from the right side of the painting, I started shading the right side of the bird (the side away from the light. Here I used a combination of french greys, 10% and 30%, as well as FC warm grey I and cloud blue, layering them slowly until I felt I was close to what I wanted. I also used FC white to help blend them and make the transition to the whitest white (the color of the paper). The legs then came next. Using the same colors I worked in the shadows and developed the form. The area just above the feet is nearly devoid of feathers, so the rough skin texture becomes more visible. The same is true of the toes. There are a lot of creases and wrinkles. Here I used a very sharp HB lead in a mechanical pencil to work in more detail. The talons were drawn in with FC dark sepia and reinforced with HB lead. Since I was working on the feet I decided to do a little work on the fish – just enough to give the feel of it in the bird’s grasp. After both legs and feet were complete I went to work on the tail. The tail is in part shade and part bright light. The shaded part on the bird’s right side only caught light here and there but as feathers transitioned to the bird’s left, they caught more light. So more grey was added on the bird’s right and more of the paper showed through on the bird’s left. I left shadows as well as highlights on the feather shafts. Here and there where the light affected the feathers I added raw umber. All that’s left now is the bird’s left wing, outstretched, all of the underside visible. The first order of work here was to work out the pattern of darks in the feathers. Once I have that laid out, I’ll go back and finish it, filling in the details.

Work In Progress: Osprey: Lover’s Key, Florida Update 11 I continued work on the Osprey in flight this past week, completing the outstretched left wing. For a seemingly near monotone structure, I used a surprisingly large number of colors. The list includes dark sepia FC, warm grey I and II FC, French grey 50%, 70% and 90%, raw umber FC, burnt umber FC and white FC. They all had their places but it is possible that I could have done it with a shorter list. I just grabbed what I thought would look right at a particular moment. The feathers are not just black and white striped or grey and white striped but vary subtly depending on how the light strikes them. Some light umber shows as highlights when the light hits the feather right. The feathers are turned this way and that as the wind catches them and the bird moves them up and down in the air. The feathers are not completely flat either. There can be a slight bending on either side of the central shaft or rachis. So, the light will be caught differently on either side. You can see that in some of the feathers, where one side of the shaft is lighter than the other. I also hinted at the striated nature of the vane, the barbs running out from the shaft, especially in the primary feathers. I did this by first coloring in the vane with a bit of raw umber, then filling in the vane with lines of dark sepia. I needed to keep a very sharp point on the pencil. The bird in flight is now pretty much completed but I may have to make some changes to tones on the bird as I progress through. Everything is relative to everything else, so, as I progress through, I look at each element and make changes in tone here and there until I think all the parts look right relative to one another. I think next I’ll be starting on the nest.

Work In Progress: Osprey: Lover’s Key, Florida Update 12 I’ve been fortunate this past week to have had enough time to make some progress on this painting. As promised, I began work on the nest. There’s a lot to it, a lot of inter-woven branches going this way and that. Some diving deep into the mass, others poking out and away. All of it tangled – but very well constructed and suited to the task of protecting eggs and eventually young chicks. Ospreys use their nests year after year, making repairs as necessary. They build nests on manmade structure such as telephone poles and special platforms constructed just for that purpose. These platforms have been instrumental in helping to re-establish Ospreys after steep declines in their populations due to DDT use in the early 1900’s. DDT was banned in the 1970’s and Osprey populations began to re-build. The nests are built out of stick, vines, bark and anything else the birds can find. Usually the male brings all the materials and the female builds the nest. The nests start out at about 2 and one half feet in diameter and six inches deep, but can increase in size to nearly 12 feet deep and up to 6 feet wide after years of use and additions. My first task was to fill in all the darkest areas, and in doing so, give some three dimensional form to the nest. I used dark sepia FC and burnt umber FC over all of the left side of the nest, the part in shade, as per the tonal drawing. Next, I filled in all the deepest recesses between the twigs and branches using the same two colors. The darks wrapped around the bottom of the nest also and in doing so, defined the masses of foliage in front. As I worked toward the right side I filled in only the deepest areas because the sunlight is impacting this side more. Using additional colors (warm greys I and II, raw umber, cream, white, raw ochre, black) I started to give form to the myriad branches that formed the nest. I’ll continue with these colors, working each of the twigs and branches, giving them three dimensional form and adding cracks, splits, little worm holes and whatever to make them realistic looking. It seems to be subjective exercise, working on each branch, darkening here, sharpening there, adding highlights and deepening shadows until it feels right.

Work In Progress: Osprey: Lover’s Key, Florida Update 13The nest is complete. Except for some adjustments here and there later on, based on the rest of the composition. As always, I like to bring each element to a point I’m satisfied with, then continue on with other elements. As I work through each element, I look back at all the elements I’ve worked on and look at them again in relation to the whole. If I think some element needs more work or needs to be altered in some way, I will do that right then or make a mental note to go back to it at a future date. When I get to a point where I feel any touchups won’t add to the composition, I call it finished. At this point, I’m pretty happy with the nest and I’m going to move on to the birds in the nest. Elements that may still be in flux are the sky background, which could possibly do with a bit more detail in the clouds, and the lower left corner, which, in the drawing has some foliage and branches shrouded in mist. I haven’t decided whether to keep that in or forget it as unnecessary. Next week I’ll have a good bit of the birds in the nest completed. The painting is nearing completion.

Work In Progress: Osprey: Lover’s Key, Florida Update 14 I’m pleased that over the past week I found enough time to complete the birds in the nest. The first task was to re-draw the birds. All the previous work on the nest had erased much of the details. The intricate pattern of the feathers on the female in the nest had to be reconstructed to make it realistic and so I had to take the time to draw the correct pattern. Once the birds were re-drawn I started in with the color on the head of the female. Using a very sharp point (and keeping it sharp) I penciled in the beak using dark sepia FC. I also used warm grey II and III, along with a bit of cloud blue on the upper part of the beak where light would cause some dull highlights. Throughout this coloring process I kept reference photos handy to get the anatomy right on the head, penciling in the details of the nostril and beak where it attaches to the head. I also used a sharp point on black FC to color in the black eye ring and pupil. The iris is pumpkin orange with cadmium yellow FC. The cadmium yellow in the iris highlights the interior of the eye, giving it a three dimensional, glowing appearance as the sun catches its edge. One thing I did wrong here was to color in the pupil first. I should have colored in the iris first. By coloring in the pupil first I had to be extra careful not to drag some black into the iris. Coloring in the lighter iris first would have made it easier to keep a sharp edge to the pupil. I was a bit over anxious to get the pupil in. After getting the eye in I worked the rest of the head and then the body. The wing and back feathers were colored in with raw umber FC, burnt umber FC, dark sepia FC, cream and black FC. The raw umber and cream were used to produce the highlighted areas on the feathers on the back and the parts of the wing caught by the light. Dark sepia FC, burnt umber FC and black FC, with some raw umber FC was used on the rest of the wing feathers, grading darker and darker as it wrapped around the body and away from the sunlight. I was careful to leave white here and there to show the edges of the feathers. The breast was a combination of warm grey I and II FC, French grey 30%, 50% and 70%. I also added some cloud blue to the shading mix. This didn’t go as smoothly as I suggest here because somewhere in the middle I realized that I had lost the pattern of the feathers on the wing. Although there is some variation in size and the pattern isn’t rigid, there is an order to the feathers. When coloring in the individual feathers I strayed from the correct pattern and had to go back over it and straighten it out. So, when coloring in wing feathers, don’t get so engrossed with the coloring that you lose sight of the pattern. After completing the female I used the same colors to finish up the two chicks. Now that the birds are pretty much completed, I’ll move on to the foliage at the bottom.

Work In Progress: Osprey: Lover’s Key, Florida Update 15 The birds and background are now nearly finished. I always leave room for additional touchups and changes. All objects in the painting relate to each other in tone, color and detail. Bringing one area of the painting to a certain stage of completion may change the relationship of another area. What I try to do is bring each object to what I think is about 90% - 95% completion, then look at all the objects in relation to one another to see if any objects need additional work. Some objects may need to be darkened or dulled, or need more color, or need more detail. I just look around and see what hits me. I walk away a lot of time and do something else. Then I’ll walk up on the painting and just look at it as a whole to see if any areas jump out as needing some additional work. Then I’ll sit down and attend to that area while the vision is still clear. When it fades I’ll walk away again and come back a few hours later and do the same thing. Little by little I hope to bring all areas into a unified, mutually supportive whole. In this update I’ve brought the foliage up to the same stage of completion. The foliage on the left side is in mist, so there is little definition and detail. I used a combination of Faber Castells (FC), olive green yellowish predominantly, as well as white, and cream, with some cadmium yellow and Prismacolor chartreuse for the highlights.All the foliage on the right, under the nest was re-drawn. Rather than just draw in a jumble of foliage without any pattern, I lightly indicated branches, then added foliage to them. Here I used FC colors white, dark sepia, burnt umber, raw umber, olive green yellowish, and Prismacolor chartreuse and yellow ochre. I wanted the very bottom to fade into dark, while leaving the more detailed and more highlighted leaves up closer to the nest. After completing the foliage I’ll be checking back often, getting an immediate impression of the whole, to see if the foliage needs more work – or if I need to alter the colors or definition or value. I don’t want the foliage to compete with the birds. So, I may dull the foliage more. I also did some work on the fish. Here, dark sepia FC, olive green yellowish FC and some white FC to blend in the green, as it transitions to the underside, were added.The painting is nearing completion now. I think the background needs a bit more work. I may add more definition to the clouds – and a little more drama.

Work In Progress: Osprey: Lover’s Key, Florida Update 16This painting is finished!Most of you will see no changes to this from last week. The changes have been subtle, and that’s probably why I’ve decided that this painting is complete. I guess I could continue to tinker with it – for who knows how long. But, when I get to this stage, where any changes I make don’t really have an effect on the appearance, it’s done. I added a bit of color here and there, filled in some darks, sharpened up some edges. I also added some more paynes grey to the sky, darkening it a bit here and there and defining the edges of some of the clouds. I didn’t go further because I didn’t want the sky to become more important and attract notice. It’s a supporting element. So, the painting will have to stand as it is.

In addition to working through this painting I’ve been busy on other projects this holiday season. In addition to helping decorate the house I’ve completely re-finished a dresser for my daughter, who, by the way, is due to deliver twins tomorrow! It seems like last week when she announced she was going to become a mother once again. Now the time has arrived. The family will be quite busy over the next few days with the new arrivals.

I’ve got some ideas for my next project and am working through narrowing it down. I never lack ideas. There’s a snow scene in mind, a portrait and a landscape high on the list. Next week I’ll present my next project.